


Class A Nutjobs

by enthusiasmgirl



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F, First Meetings, Gen, Pre-Movie(s), Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-24 20:59:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7522951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enthusiasmgirl/pseuds/enthusiasmgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of how Abby Yates first meets Jillian Holtzmann and is very impressed by her confidence, but also worried for her safety.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Class A Nutjobs

**Author's Note:**

> This is for a prompt on the Ghostbusters Kink Meme, found [here.](http://ghostbusterskink.dreamwidth.org/318.html?thread=2110#cmt2110) The prompt is:
> 
>  
> 
> _"So they've been friends for years, and Holtzmann is clearly comfortable with Abby draping her arm around her shoulders and saying "this is my partner. She'd never abandon me" to a stranger._
> 
>  
> 
> _I'd love to know literally anything about how they got together, how they first hooked up, if they're dating or it's casual or what. Anything at all. Just pre-movie shenanigans with these two, in their lab, being in love."_
> 
>  
> 
> I had to write it, because how they met was also the first thing I wondered about when I left the movie. I will likely make this into a series and write more, but have it as Complete for now because I'm not sure. It's unbetaed and I wrote it this afternoon, so feel free to point out typos or provide concrit in the comments.

"So, in summation," Abby said proudly from the panel room podium, looking smart in her dress shirt and pants, "while we may discuss out of body experiences such as astral projection or autoscopy in spiritual rather than scientific terms, it is important to remember that they should, in fact, be part of a larger scientific project to understand the human brain and not be discounted. While the Cartesian Theater Model is the preferred approach of many scientists to their work in understanding the brain, other theories that propose quantum effects to explain consciousness are under consideration, and once the mysteries of the brain are unlocked, the possibilities are endless for theories currently considered fringe or paranormal to be validated and legitimized."

She stopped and took a deep breath, trying to smile in spite of the fact that the applause that she had hoped would be thunderous was instead just a slow clap coming from the one strange-looking woman sitting at the back of the room, slouched over with her feet resting on the back of the chair in front of her. "Woo!" the woman said, and pumped their first in the air as they said it like they were in the audience of an Arsenio Hall show.

Abby sighed and quietly tried to exit the room with her dignity intact. She was startled when the woman who had hooted was suddenly in front of her blocking the way out, having moved quickly with surprising stealth and speed. The woman leaned her arm on the doorframe and tilted over, observing Abby carefully.

While speaking to an audience of one had been bad enough, it hadn't helped Abby's confidence level when that one person was the woman in front of her, noticeably eccentric even at a convention full of weirdo conspiracy theorists and alien abductees. The woman was dressed like she'd raided a thrift shop that only sold men's clothing and then dunked herself in oil and paint, with strange tinted glasses and a shock of bleach blonde hair that poured out of the top of her head in a style that made Abby think of a slightly less demented troll doll. Abby would find it strangely sexy if she wasn't also concerned for her safety in her presence.

"Can I help you?" Abby asked, irritated and hoping the woman would back off.

"I don't know," the woman asked through narrowed eyes. "Anything's possible. You said it yourself."

"Who are you?" was the obvious question.

"Me?" the woman asked. "Oh, I'm nobody. Just the woman who can make all your dreams a reality if you let me."

"Really?" Abby asked, disbelieving. "Do you have the ability to shapeshift into both Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt holding a stuffed crust pepperoni pizza? Because if not, I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone else."

"Oh, I meant your more scientific dreams. I could do the pizza though, if that would help," the woman said. "I found your presentation... stimulating."

Abby was amazed that the woman was able to make one word sound so sexual.

"I'm Holtzmann. Jillian Holtzmann," said the woman, extending no hand at the introduction. "I'm an engineer, freelance right now but looking at pitching an important research project related to the field of the paranormal to the very prestigious institute I teach for and I need a partner. Someone with the background in quantum physics to really help me nail down the theoretical bits and pieces while I do the physical work. And you are someone who I very much would like to do the physical work for."

"Which institute?" Abby asked.

"The Higgins Institute of Science," Holtzmann replied.

Abby laughed out loud. "That dump? Are you for real? That place is where science goes to be hit over the head with a shovel and put out of its misery. What's your budget for this project, a handful of dog food and a room?"

"Basically," Holtzmann told her. "But work's work, right? Dog food is better than no food? And also surprisingly tasty, by the way. Besides, are you really that much of a gourmand? I mean, look where we are. This place is full of real class A nutjobs. But you... you make sense. Your theories make sense. They intrigue me."

"What's the project?" Abby asked, similarly intrigued.

Holtzmann grinned. "I want to build a machine that will allow communication with the other side." Her eyes bugged out of her head in a disconcerting way as she said it.

Abby sighed. "Ooooookay then. Clearly, you are in the right place, and I am not. Excuse me," she gestured for Holtzmann to get out of her way. The woman didn't budge, but her face fell.

"Move out of my way, please," Abby said.

"So you lied then?" Holtzmann asked her.

"About what?" Abby asked.

"About believing that the paranormal could be legitimized," Holtzmann said. "About science's ability to understand it. You think I'm crazy like everyone else."

"No," Abby said, "I just... Communication with the other side? Really?"

"Not the other side like heaven or hell. That would be insane. We're talking about another layer of reality where those who are currently on this plain are transported," Holtzmann said. "You said yourself that astral projection, out of body experiences could exist."

"As functions of the human brain," Abby said. "Not actual metaphysical experiences."

"But you think ghosts are real?" Holtzmann asked. "You said so. Your entire speech was on the premise that we still don't understand how our own consciousnesses perceive physical phenomena."

"Yes," said Abby. "I do."

"Well then..." Holtzmann asked. "Where do they come from? Why can't we see them? If you believe that science can answer these questions in the abstract, then you must also believe that we can harness the abstract answers into machinery, into physical reality that can be measured and observed. And communicated with."

Abby had to admit to herself that Holtzmann's argument was impressive.

"Just come back to my lab," Holtzmann said. "Have a look at what I've been cooking up. If you don't like it, well, you can always bail. But you know what I think?"

"What do you think?" Abby asked.

Holtzmann leaned in closely, her curly bangs flopping down in front of her face as she did so. "I think that you're into it. And into me. And that we can do great things together."

Abby gulped. "Well, you've definitely got some confidence."

Holtzmann smiled and grabbed her hand, pulling her through the doorway. "What's not to be confident about?" she asked, gesturing to herself with one arm.

Abby shook her head and laughed. "I guess we'll see..."

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [Tumblr.](http://enthusiasmgirl.tumblr.com)


End file.
